‘Community’ Features

Here it is 2012 already and Devil’s Lake State Park‘s centennial year is over.  On Christmas morning local resident, Derrick Mayoleth completed his 100 mile paddle around Devil’s Lake to mark the anniversary.  What does it take to paddle 100 miles around Devil’s Lake.. Well, persistence and a willingness to paddle in any weather.   We’ve posted a gallery of nearly 200 photos showing the season’s changing from autumn to winter all from the sea of a 16 foot kayak.  Click here for our Flickr gallery.

If you’re the type that happily avoids Black Friday and Cyber Monday in search of more unique and meaningful gift ideas, we’ve got some great local shopping ideas for you.  Coming up this Friday & Saturday you may want to check out Goat Crossing Studio’s Open Studio event.  Goat Crossing Studio features the work of local artist Jean Stephany and is located just outside of Baraboo on County Road W.  Her studio will be open from 3pm to 7pm on Friday & 10am to 4pm  on Sunday.  Jean has unique and one-of-a-kind gift ideas for all budgets. For more details visit www.goatcrossingstudio.com or check out the Goat Crossing Facebook page.

The International Crane Foundation’s gift shop will be open for holiday shopping December 1-3rd for their “Shop for a Cause” event.  You’ll find a variety of gifts for crane enthusiasts and nature lovers including; jewelry, clothing, gifts, stationery, art and books. Look for products designated as eco-friendly, fair trade and made by ICF partners around the globe working where people and cranes live together.  This is a great opportunity to find unique gift ideas, and support ICF at the same time.  For more information click here.

Glass Display At The Very Merry Holiday Fair

On Friday, December 9th & Saturday Dec. 10th visit the Very Merry Holiday Fair in Baraboo.  The Very Merry Holiday Fair brings together 45 of the area’s finest artists for this unique holiday show.  Friday from 5pm to 8pm join the Very Merry Artists for the opening Gala and of course, shopping!  A 5$ donation is required for the Gala evening.  There will be free admission on Saturday from 9am to 4pm.  This is one of our favorite local holiday shopping events!  For more information visit www.theverymerryholidayfair.com

Of course, in the meantime we encourage you to visit our local Downtown Baraboo shops. Each year we’re surprised by some of the unique gifts on offer at our local shops and galleries.

Oh, and lastly let me invite you to visit our own Skillet Creek online shop for some unique gifts for the outdoorsy type in your family.  We are still offering Devil’s Lake Centennial logo gear until December 15th.  We’ve also released our Great Big 2012 Devil’s Lake State Park Calendar featuring some wonderful shots of the park.  Also be sure to check out our Hike! Paddle! & “Ski!” park sign products while you’re there.   Click here to visit our online shop!

Happy Holidays!  And thank you for supporting our community!

Downtown Baraboo’s annual Christmas Light Parade will begin at 6pm, next Saturday, November 19th (2011), on the square here in Baraboo.  The annual event draws thousands of families from around the area to take in the lighted floats and holiday music that kick off the Christmas season in Downtown Baraboo.  In addition to the lighted floats and school bands, the parade features a variety of animals, big balloons, clowns and more.  The event concludes with Santa Clause taking a precarious ride in a firetruck’s aerial bucket to the top the Al. Ringling Theater marquee to light the Christmas tree, an interesting endeavor to say the least!  Come early to stake out a good spot along the parade route! For more information visit www.downtownbaraboo.com.  Also check out our 7 Last Minute Tips link below.

USEFUL PLANNING INFORMATION

• Read our 7 Last Minute Tips for the Light Parade!

SKILLET CREEK Photos

• 2010 Christmas Light Parade Gallery
• Archive of 2003 to 2008 Baraboo Holiday Parade Photos

Baraboo’s popular coffee shop, the Coffee Bean Connection, reopened yesterday at it’s new location on the corner of  5th & Oak Streets just off the downtown square. Despite the first snowstorm of the year the shop was filled with customers much of the day.  The local paper posted a nice article, of course you know what we do around here, so below is a slideshow of a few pictures of the new shop…

If you cannot see the slideshow, you can go directly to our Flickr gallery here.

Opinion – It wasn’t too long ago when a swath of the rural Wisconsin countryside in the Greenfield Township here in Sauk County, was annexed by the city of Baraboo.  For a time after the annexation, the biggest issue was simply getting our mail to arrive on time.  Then of course our property taxes went up.  Then we really got hosed!  You see, the city of Baraboo started charging us for city sewer services.  Well, that would all be well and good if we actually HAD city sewer services.  The rates, based on the number of parcels we own, are highest on farmers and land owners who as you can guess have the most parcels and frankly, would rather keep the water right in their fields anyway, let along pay for the imaginary sewers the city is billing them for.  Read the rest of this entry »

All the elements of a great day were in place; Great weather, food, crafts, sales, a car show, water fights and more. Still, Downtown Baraboo’s 2011 Old Fashioned Day Festival was noticeably quieter than in past years. For awhile dark storm clouds appeared in the north and threatened to drench event goers for a time before slipping off to the east.  Talking to local merchants as to why numbers were down provided a variety of answers, but most were centered on the weak economy.  Probably so.  On the other hand, you certainly could spend the afternoon on the square taking in the atmosphere and entertainment while never spending a penny.  Did you attend the event?  What are your thoughts?  We’ve posted a photo gallery on our Flickr.

Fires broke out yesterday along the south bluff of Devil’s Lake State Park between 2-3pm.  Reports of up to 6 individual blazes on the south shore of the park had fire crews racing to the scene from around the area to assist. Driver’s along Highway 113 near the corners of County Rd DL and South Shore Road could see up to 4 columns of smoke rising from the bluffs. Although park maintenance crews were blocking driver access to the south shore day use areas, onlookers were gathering at the Roznos Meadow parking lot to watch the smoke rise in the distance. Over the course of the next 2 hours each individual column of smoke began to disappear one by one as fire crews did their work. All the while a spotter plane circled the scene from above. By 5:25pm Devil’s Lake reported all fires were out.  The initial cause of the fires seems to have been sparks created by a passing train igniting dry brush along the tracks. A fast response by local fire crews avoided a potential conflagration.

** On a personal note we had witnessed the first large plumes of smoke rise into the air as we were walking the trails of the Merrimac Preserve just to the east.  I made nothing of it as I had seen smoke in a similar location just the day before.  There are also many controlled burns in the area as part of prairie restoration projects. Smoke in the wilderness does not instantly scream out “emergency” here in the Baraboo hills.  Interestingly we watched the fires with mixed feelings. It was obvious how quickly these fires could have spun out of control among the still dry forests and prairie landscapes. It also came to mind that if there is were no property in the area there is something to be said for letting fires run their course.  The problem in this area and at this time of year, is that they could quickly get out of control. If not put out quickly the fires would have soon threatened homes and businesses in the area. Again, thankfully our fire crews did a fantastic job.  What’s more, rain has begun to fall in the area.

To See More Pictures From Yesterday’s Fires: Pop-Up Slideshow | Flickr Gallery

As the population in rural areas continue to decline, more land is becoming available for public use.  That’s a good thing for hikers, cyclists and other outdoor enthusiasts.  The sad part is that as the land opens up we are getting a grim view of how folks viewed the land they once owned.  Here in the Baraboo hills along the ice age trail, within Devil’s Lake State Park and elsewhere it’s easy to come across the remnants of past lives rusting away in otherwise pristine forests and valleys.  The photo above was taken on the Ice Age Trail just west of Hwy 113 south-east of Baraboo.  It’s hard to imagine that even now, some folks still feel no qualms about tossing everything they no longer use onto an old junk pile somewhere “out back” on their property.  Let’s face it, sooner or later.. someone WILL have to clean it all up. I imagine it’s a struggle for parks and environmental organizations who are pressed simply to maintain the trails to find ways to deal with our legacy of waste.  Do you carry it all out and pay for proper disposal?  Do you leave it as a message for future generations?   What are your thoughts?

Photo Gallery

We are building a new photo gallery featuring the remnants of past lives here in our local parks and natural areas.  To see more: Pop-Up Slideshow | Flickr Gallery

A sign that says “Help Bring The Bradford Bison Home” is still stuck to the wall outside the Tripp Memorial Museum in Sauk Prairie.  It’s now been over 5 years since Joshua Bradford, then age 7, discovered the partial skull and intact horns of an extinct Bison occidentalis (Buffalo to the rest of us..) estimated to be at least 5,000 years old. At the time, the horns were sent to Madison to be dated. It was assumed that they would then be returned to Sauk Prairie to be put on display for the whole community.

Of course once it was realized that the boy’s discovery had real value, the adults began to wrangle over ownership and other such “grown-up” issues.  From 2005 onward the artifact has rarely been seen by anyone.  A resolution of sorts came when there was a decision that Alliant Energy owned the horns because they own the dam on the Wisconsin river near where the artifact was discovered.  They then donated them back to the local historical society.

The Sauk Prairie Area Historical Society is now working to bring the Bradford Bison back to Sauk Prairie where it will finally made available to everyone.  The problem now?  Well, money of course.  The building housing the Tripp Memorial Museum in Sauk Prairie is over 100 years old and in need of some maintenance. According to their website, after discussions with Laura Halverson, a curator at the University of Wisconsin Zoological Museum, the museum needs to invest about $25,000 into repairs and upgrades before they will be able to bring the artifact back to the community in which it was found. Even when the money is available, it will take some time to get the work done before we actually see the return of the Bradford Bison. The sad part of all this,  is that the boy who made the historic find in the first place could practically be an adult by the time his find is returned. A great lesson in how the adult world works I suppose.

We’re not talking about massive sums of money here to protect Sauk Prairie’s history for everyone to share. They look like they are about half way so far, let’s hope that it won’t be another 5 years before those who can, come up with the rest.

• Tripp Memorial Museum – Learn More & Donate
• Boy, 7, Makes Stunning Archaeological Discovery - Wisconsin Historical Society
• Bradford Bison will return to Sauk Prairie – WN

Two Modern Day Buffalo on a farm near Baraboo, WI.

Here in the Baraboo hills we are blessed with an amazing amount of wildlife these days. This morning with nothing more than the swing of a camera I was able to catch 2 types of ducks, a canada goose & a pair of Sandhill cranes and 2 heron from the seat of my car all without moving an inch.  Amazing!  It was not all that long ago when cranes and other wildlife were not so abundant.  We’ve come a long way toward improving our environment in the last couple decades.  Occasionally we do manage to get things right.  To see today’s and other photos from the area visit our Facebook page or our Flickr.   Oh, and if you’re thinking our local events calendar looks a little sparse this time of year?  Well, spring IS the big event!  Come see!